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Temp Gauge?

33K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  KevinE 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

So i drove my first EX today and noticed it had no temp guage. I know it has the warning light but seriously....a temp gauge is kind of handy to have. I like knowing when my car is "warm" after starting it in -35 weather.

I mean, the way i look at it, for the $2000 extra for the SX I get piece of mind knowing what temp my engine is and that it's not going to over-heat. After-all, when that temp warning light comes on, it might be too late. At least with a gauge I can see my engine getting hot and limp it to a garage to get stuff checked out. With just a warning light....nope, pulling over right away.

Has anyone added a gauge to their EX?

The SX has the gauage built into the trip computer, correct?
 
#4 ·
What i want to know is if my SX trip screen will alert me if my car is overheating. I leave it on Mpg so im rarely looking at my temp.
 
#5 ·
I had a Forte EX sedan and it use to worry me not having a Temp gauge. Now I have a Koup and it has one it's a part of the trip computer set-up, I hardly ever look at it in fact I have it set-up to show kl per Litre. It's funny, I guess it's human nature when I didn't have it on the EX I wanted badly.
 
#8 ·
Maybe they were targeting women with this car. I know in my moms 98 Grand Am there was one but it didn't stop my mom from continuing to drive it while it was overheating.

I kinda think the gage in the SX is useless. It's just a relative gauge since it has no numbers.
 
#12 ·
I'm sure you can wire in an aftermarket temp gauge if you wanted...Autometer or Megan Racing have some nice gauges that usually come with a sender so you can tap into you cooling system with a sender :)
I've looked at them, but i dont want to ruin the interior of my new car. The gauges are nice, but they're still not meant to be there and i think it'd just look stupid. Now if i could get an SX trip computer on an ex....that would be ideal.
 
#13 ·
so i just got off the phone with my dealer. I'm going to go in and talk pricing on a sedan sx tonight. I told him i couldn't put money on a car without a temp gauge. He said the SX only had an external temp gauge, not an internal one. Any of you guys with an SX, preferably in canada, know of this for sure? Unfortunately they don't have any SX's at my local dealership that i can look at so i wouldn't be able to know for sure.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Well, I'm in Canada and I have an SX (Koup), and it has an external air temp readout as part of the climate control display.

I must admit I cannot conceive of basing the purchasing of a car on whether it had an external temp gauge. No offense meant. Anyway, there are many other reasons to buy an SX - the aforementioned climate control air, leather, bigger motor, more gears in the transmission, sunroof, etc. And one reason maybe to not buy an SX - the stiffer suspension, depending on what you are looking for in a car.
 
#14 ·
Um 'external'? So does he think it just sits on the engine, and not actually 'in it'? Whatever... facts are facts and the fact is it's a wet-type coolant sensor built into the thermostat housing in ANY Kia.

Bear in mind that a LOSS of coolant renders the gauge completely useless, as they do not read dry/air temp. You will read normal and your engine will be melting down.
 
#17 ·
I went with the EX because personally I do not like leather, I didn't mind not having a sunroof, and there's only a 16hp difference between the 2 motors.... I can make up for that with a CAI and an Exhaust.

I'm going to be putting in my own set of guages anyway :)
 
#18 ·
There are a couple aftermarket digital OBD readers that are able to display engine temp. If it's truely a deal-breaker for you (and I echo lleader's thoughts on that subject) then a simple unobtrusive digital display can very easily be integrated and you'll be a happy camper with your EX for a very low cost.
 
#19 ·
There are a couple aftermarket digital OBD readers that are able to display engine temp.........
double question for you kiatech

1)do our kias have a low coolant indicator? (my crap ass 95 pont grand am had one) ((i've looked thru the manuals and such- and either i am blind- or i am not seeing it ))

2) there has been mention of the "wet" temp gauge- are there any gauges that will allow "true" temp readings of the engine if the coolant goes away?
(esp. since finding out that the kias wont signal overheating if the coolant goes away)

i hate to think that us kia folks are relying on the possible chance of an "idiot" light flashing at the very last second.........

my craptastic grand am.....

(all of 15 year ago tech behind it..)

it had an oil pressure gauge
toward the end of the grand am- one reason i ditched it was i could see the oil pressure issues it was having- ie- loss of pressure on hard turns/brakings........ wouldnt it be nice to know how your car is doing day by day by how the oil pressure is doing?

had temp gauge for the water temp (and an idiot light for low water)
i love the fact that my SX has the temp. gauge-
however- i noticed that very quickly its at operational temp-
(sure its summer here in florida- but is it gonna go right back to the generic 'this is correct' mark in the winter? )
and i'd sure love to know the exact numbers that the lil scale is repp'ing..


i love my SX- i just wish that i had more options to keep track of what my SX is feeling/doing......
i want to keep this lil SX all the way thru the 10 years...(and beyond)
but now that i've got it and going thru all of the bits and pieces-i am a lil worried that they (kia) isnt making it easier for us to reach that goal..........
 
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